The backbone of SMP lies in the weekend clinic visits we conduct. The real mission of the organization is captured in these trips in which we “provide medical care to the indigenous people of Dominica.”

The clinic trips are open to SMP student members only, and usually take about 10-12 of such students. Led by at least one clinical coordinator, each trip departs from the Ross University School of Medicine library doors at 8AM of a particular Saturday morning. Transports leave and travel down the windy mountain roads towards the Atlantic coast for approximately 1 hour. Often, such trips make a pit stop at a local bakery in order to gather baked goods for the patients the students will see later.

Upon arrival at the Salybia Pre-School (where clinics are held), student volunteers are briefed by the clinical coordinator on duty. Vitals are practiced if need be, policies concerning how to approach patients are reviewed, and student volunteers are paired up.

Nurse Warrington, our beloved Nurse Paris

Patients typically are waiting from long before the students’ arrival, anxious to see the physician and students. Nurse Sylvie Warrington also arrives before the student volunteers in order to open the setting and set up spaces for patient-student interaction. The pharmacist on duty also sets up accordingly.

Dr. Worrell Sanford

Student pairs then begin their clinical experience with patients. For some, this may very well be the first such interaction in their professional, medical careers. They are asked to interview the patient, take vitals, and gather a complete history in preparation for overview by the physician, Dr. Worrell Sanford.

Once the patient’s turn has arrived, the student pair and the patient enter the “doctor’s room” where the students present the case at hand to the physician. Other students not directly involved in the case are also welcome to observe and participate. Diagnosis, treatment options, and other aspects concerning the case are openly and informally discussed, promoting a pure and unique learning experience for the students. Physical examinations and procedures are done by the students under the guidance of Dr. Sanford, providing them with valuable on-hands exposure they cannot gather elsewhere. Students are truly challenged in ways that ensure they know what they are getting into: the meat of medicine.

And the beauty of it lies in the fact that this process is repeated over and over, with students sometimes seeing as many as 15 or 16 patients in one day.

Students often enjoy lunch by the water, on the way noticing the picturesque and cliffside graveyard and church ruins. They return for more cases, and then depart the clinic after all the patients have been seen. Often times the physician will hold an informal summary of the day’s cases and thus will remind the students of the value of clinical exposure. After such a session, students assist in reorganizing and closing the pre-school area, and depart promptly thereafter.

Many of our student volunteers have found the experience extremely rewarding and insightful. Read an account of one such experience.